Khan, however, would listen to no terms importing less than the government CHAP. IV. of the whole country; and the confederates continued in formidable force. 1758. Though, after the recall of the French troops in November, no army was in the field; the garrisons left in the several forts continued to make incursions upon one another, and mutually ravaged the unhappy country. As these operations, "being always levelled at defenceless villages, carried," says Mr. Orme, "the reproach of robbery, more than the reputation of war;" each side, too, losing by them more than it gained; the French officer at Wandewash proposed a conference, for the purpose of ending this wretched species of warfare; and an English officer was authorized to conclude an agreement. The governments of Madras and Pondicherry were both now disposed to suspend their efforts― the French, till the arrival of the forces which they boasted were to render them irresistible in Carnatic-the English, that they might husband their resources for the danger with which they were threatened. In this situation Arrival of Lally with a they continued till the 28th of April, when a French squadron of twelve sail strong armaarrived in the road of Fort St. David. ment from France. Upon the breaking out of the war between France and England in 1756, the French ministry resolved to strike an important blow in India. The Count de Lally, a member of one of those Irish families, which had transported themselves into France along with James II., was appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the French forces in India. He had distinguished himself in the battle of Fountenoy, where he took several English officers with his own hand, and received the rank of Colonel from the King, upon the field of battle: It was he who proposed the daring plan of landing in England with 10,000 men, while the Prince Charles Edward was trying his fortune for a crown in another part of the island: And his hatred of the English, and his reputation for courage, now pointed him out as the fittest person to crush the pretensions of that nation on the coast of Coromandel. He was accompanied with his own regiment of Irish, 1080 strong; with fifty of the royal artillery, and a great number of officers of distinction. They left the port of Brest on the 4th of May, 1757, when a malignant fever raged in the town, of which they carried the infection along with them. No fewer than 300 persons died in the fleet before they reached Rio Janeiro, where they remained for two months, and, after all, departed with a residue of the sickness on board. At Mauritius they were joined by a part of the ships which had landed the troops at Pondicherry in the preceding year; and, after a tedious voyage, made the coast of Coromandel on the 25th of April. Book IV. 1758. The court of Versailles anticipated nothing but triumphs from this splendid' armament; and the presumption of Lally well assorted with that of his governPrecipitation ment. It was even laid down in the instructions of the ministers, that he of Lally. should commence his operations with the siege of Fort St. David. For this purpose, before communicating with the land, he made the fleet anchor at the place of attack. He proceeded with two of the vessels to Pondicherry, where he arrived at five in the afternoon; and before the night closed he had 1,000 Europeans, and as many Sepoys, on their march to Fort St. David. In military operations, notwithstanding the importance of dispatch, something more than dispatch is necessary. The troops marched without provisions, and with unskilful guides, who led them astray, and brought them to Fort St. David at seven o'clock in the morning, worn out with hunger and fatigue. † This gave them a motive and an apology for commencing a system of plunder and insubordination, from which they could not easily be recalled. Battle between the French and These troops had scarcely arrived at Fort St. David, when the ships in the road descried the English fleet making way from the south. Mr. Pococke, with English fleets. the ships of war from Bengal, had arrived at Madras on the 24th of February ; on the 24th of the following month a squadron of five ships from Bombay had arrived under Admiral Stevens; and on the 17th of April, the whole sailed to the southward, looking out for the French. Having in ten days worked as high to windward as the head of Ceylon, they stood in again for the coast, which they made off Negapatnam on the 28th, and, proceeding along shore, discovered the French fleet at nine the next morning, riding off Cuddalore. The French immediately weighed, and bore down towards Pondicherry, throwing out signals to recall the two ships which had sailed with Lally; and the English * He himself complains that little preparation was made to co-operate with him. Among the proofs of carelessness, one was that he was saluted with five discharges of cannon, loaded with ball, of which three pierced the ship through and through, and the two others damaged the rigging; Memoire pour Lally, i. 39. + Lally complains, and with good reason, of the deplorable ignorance of the French Governor and Council. They could not tell him the amount of the English forces on the coast; nor whether Cuddalore was surrounded with a dry wall or a rampart; nor whether there was any river to pass between Pondicherry and Fort St. David. He complains that he lost forty-eight hours at Cuddalore, because there was not a man at Pondicherry, who could tell him that it was open on the side next the sea; that he was unable to find twenty-four hours' provisions. at Pondicherry; and that the Governor, who promised to forward a portion to him upon the road, broke his word; whence the troops were two days without food, and some of them died. Ibid. 40, 41. * 1758. Admiral gave the signal for chase. The summons for the two ships not being CHAP. IV. answered, the French fleet stood out to sea, and formed the line of battle. The French consisted of nine sail, the English only of seven. The battle was indecisive; the loss of a few men, with some damage to the ships, being the only result.* Both fleets fell considerably to leeward during the engagement ; and the French were six days in working up to the road of Pondicherry, where the troops were landed. Lally himself had some days before proceeded to Fort St. David with the whole force of Pondicherry, and the troops from the fleet were sent after him, as fast as they came on shore. power of the situation of The English were thrown into the greatest alarm. So much was the power Superior of the enemy now superior to their own, that they scarcely anticipated any French, and other result than their expulsion from the country; and had Dupleix been still dark prospect of the English. the guide and conductor of the enemy's affairs, it is more than probable, that their most gloomy apprehensions would have been realized. † Not only had an Exploits and overwhelming addition been made to a force, against which they had previously Bussy. found it difficult to maintain themselves; but, in the mean time, Bussy, in the northern parts of Deccan, had obtained the most important advantages, and brought upon the English the heaviest disasters. After the brilliant exploit of 1756, when he defended himself at Hyderabad against the whole power of the Şubahdar, and imposed his own terms upon his enemies, he had proceeded to the Northern Circars, where his presence was necessary, to collect the revenues, and, by an adjustment of the government, to provide for the future regularity of their payment. He began his march on the 16th of November of that year, with 500 Europeans and 4,000 Sepoys; leaving only a small detachment to attend the person of the Subahdar. ‡ In accomplishing his progress through the country, he encountered no considerable resistance. The Polygar of Bobilee defended his fort to the last extremity; and exhibited the * A French ship was driven on shore, and obliged to be abandoned; but this was owing to an accident after the battle. + Lord Clive himself said, in his evidence before the Committee, in 1772; "Mr. Lally arrived with such a force as threatened not only the destruction of all the settlements there, but of all the East India Company's possessions, and nothing saved Madras from sharing the fate of Fort St. David, at that time, but their want of money, which gave time for strengthening and reinforcing the place." Report, ut supra. Orme (ii. 104) says he left 100 Europeans and 1,000 Sepoys. Wilks (Histor. Sketches, p. 387) says he left 200 Europeans and 500 Sepoys. Orme again (Ibid. p. 264) speaks of the detachment as consisting of 200 Europeans and 500 Sepoys. 1758. BOOK IV. customary spectacle of Hindu desperation, the fortress in flames, and the people and garrison butchered by their own hands: But he was excited to this desperation by the command to exchange the government of his present for that of another district, on account of the annoyance he gave to a neighbouring Chief from whom Bussy had received a train of important services. When Bussy had nearly completed the arrangement which he intended to make, he received about the 1st of April letters from Suraja Dowla, inviting him by the largest offers, to assist him in expelling the English from Bengal. Bussy waited on his northern frontier, ready to march through Orissa into Bengal, as soon as he should receive satisfactory intelligence; but, learning the capture of Chandernagor, and the imbecility of the Subahdar, he changed his purpose, and proceeded to the attack of the English establishments within the Circars. There were three factories, on three different branches of the Godavery, in a district remarkable for the excellence and cheapness of its cloths. They were places of no strength, and surrendered on the first requisition. Vizigapatam, however, was one of the places of greatest importance belonging to the English in India. It was a fort, garrisoned by 150 Europeans, and 300 Sepoys; but so injudiciously constructed, that the attempt to defend it was unanimously determined to be vain. The van of Bussy's army appeared before it on the 24th of June; and a capitulation was concluded; that all the Europeans, both military and civil, should be regarded as prisoners, and all the effects of the Company as prize of war. The Sepoys, and other natives, Bussy allowed to go where they pleased; he also promised to respect the property of individuals. "And he kept his word," says Mr. Orme," with the utmost liberality, resigning, without discussion, whatsoever property any one claimed as his own." During these transactions, however, a great revolution was preparing in the army of Salabut Jung. He had two younger brothers, whom Bussy, acquainted with the temper of Oriental governments, had advised the Subahdar to provide with establishments, and every indulgence suitable to their rank, but from whom he had exhorted him carefully to withhold those governments and places of power, which, in the hands of the near relations of the Prince, were the cause of so many revolutions in India. This prudent course was pursued till the period of the alienation from Bussy of the mind of the Subahdar; when that Prince was easily persuaded, by his designing courtiers, to reverse the policy which the sagacity of Bussy had established. The eldest of the two brothers, Bassalut Jung, was appointed Governor of the strong fort and country of Adoni; and Nizam Ali, the youngest and most dangerous, was made CHAP. IV. Governor of Berar, the most extensive province of Deccan, of which the Mahrattas now possessed the principal part. Towards the end of the year 1757, while a body of Mahrattas insulted Aurengabad, which was then the residence of the Subahdar, a mutiny, under the usual shape of clamour for pay, was excited in his army. The utmost alarm was affected by the Duan, or minister, who took shelter in a strong fort: The Subahdar, without resources, was driven to dismay: Nizam Ali, who had acquired some reputation, and intrigued successfully with the troops, offered to interpose and allay the tumults, provided the requisite powers, and among other things the great seal of the Subah, were committed to his hands: The requisition was obeyed: And Nizam Ali, leaving only the name of Subahdar to his brother, grasped the whole powers of the state. With an affectation of indifference he committed the seal to his brother Bassalut Jung, but under sufficient security that it would be used agreeably to his directions. Bussy received intelligence of these events in the beginning of January; immediately began his march with the whole of his army; and, by a road never travelled before by European troops, arrived in twenty-one days at Aurengabad, a distance by the perambulator of nearly 400 miles. Four separate armies were encamped about the city; that of Nizam Ali from Berar; that of the Subah, of which Nizam Ali had now the command; that of Bassalut Jung from Adoni; and that of the Mahrattas, commanded by Balagee Row. The presence of Bussy, with his handful of Europeans, imposed respect upon them all; and every eye was fixed upon his movements. His first care was to restore the authority of the Subahdar, whom the presence alone of the French detachment, which had vigilantly guarded his person, had probably saved from the assassination which generally forms the main ingredient of Indian revolutions. The two brothers at first assumed a high tone; and, when obliged to part with the seal, exhibited unusual marks of rage and indignation. Bussy clearly saw that the safety of the Subahdar, and the existence of the present government, demanded the resumption of the power which had been entrusted to Nizam Ali; but when the proposition of a large pension was made to him in lieu of his government, he had the art to interest his troops in his behalf, and Bussy found it necessary to temporize. To remove still further the umbrage which he * Mr. Orme states the days on report merely; but we may presume it was the best information which that careful historian could procure. 1758. |